The present invention generally relates to an adjustable hitch useful for towing trailers or disabled vehicles, for example. More specifically, the invention is directed to a hitch which can be rotated as well as moved fore and aft, and also placed into towing position, simply by manipulating one adjustable pin.
Ball hitches are well known in the prior art. A major disadvantage with hitch assemblies is that they do not allow for trailer misalignment in the horizontal plane. In other words, as the pulling vehicle is backed up to the tongue of a trailer, there is a certain amount of error in the process: typically, the towing vehicle must be moved and adjusted several times in order to position the ball of the hitch sufficiently close to the receiving socket of the towed vehicle (e.g., trailer, RV, disabled vehicle, etc.) so that a connection may be made.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a hitch assembly which can be adjusted for misalignment without moving the pulling vehicle and without the need for external mountings such as cameras, alignment poles, etc. It would also be advantageous to provide a universal hitch assembly with the ability to connect to a standard hitch receiver, without the need for any special installation. Further, it would be advantageous to use a pulling method to lock the hitch, as opposed to the pushing method used by many other hitch assemblies. Using a pulling method to locking the hitch has at least two advantages: (1) by locking trailer brakes or blocking the trailer wheels, the hitch can be extended (by moving the pulling vehicle forward) and locked into position; and (2) it provides the hitch with a large range of motion in various directions while avoiding difficulties in moving the hitch back into a straight line for towing.